Republicans Plotting their Own Defeat via More Gun Control

We are witnessing a political bludgeon being used to convince Republican politicians to cut their own political throats over failed gun control…

Buckeye, AZ –-(Ammoland.com)- In what twisted universe is it “commonsense” to respond to an atrocity by passing laws that have not, will not, and cannot have any sort of significant impact on preventing or mitigating such atrocities?

Your elected representatives need to hear from you right now. They need to be reminded that none of the laws currently being proposed would have prevented the latest attack on school children – or any of the high-profile mass-murders of the past 30 years – and that enacting these laws in response to this emotional trauma will do nothing but hurt innocent, law-abiding gun owners, and reduce the politician's chances of being reelected.

From a purely political perspective, many short-sighted Republicans had already been expecting a Democrat wave to slam Congress this year, based on low approval ratings for Congress and the president. That's one of the main reasons we've seen so many of them announce their intention to retire after the current session. If it weren't for the recently passed tax bill, they might be correct. Republicans have done a very poor job of following through on their campaign promises, and conservative voters have a well-earned reputation for turning their backs on politicians who don't keep their promises.

If Republicans had just made a serious effort at doing what they said they would do, they could have forced the Democrats to block them – if they dared – and would have been able to leave that baggage on the Democrats' doorstep. Instead, for the most part they just whined that it was no use to push things to a vote, because Democrats had the votes to block them, so why bother. What few feeble efforts they did make were often preempted by “maverick” Republicans undermining their own party, and shielding Democrats from the consequences of their intransigence.

But passage of the President's tax bill offered Republicans a second chance. It buoyed them in the eyes of many of their base constituency, and once voters start noticing the extra money in their paychecks, should bring a whole bunch of swing voters into the Republican camp by November.

At least that was the thinking until the Florida attack happened, and Democrats and the media started beating their well-worn – and hollow – gun control drum, offering no effective solutions, but leveraging emotions to blame Republicans and “the NRA” (we're all “the NRA” to them) for the atrocity, and calling for congressional action.

So now Republicans are tripping over themselves to again fall into the trap.

A major Republican donor in Florida put out a public statement insisting that no Republican would receive another check from him until they passed an “assault weapon” ban. That's a pretty ridiculous move on his part, but even more ridiculous for Republicans to worry about. Even if this guy gives millions of dollars every cycle, money can't compensate for actual votes, and offending millions of GunVoters in hopes of accessing a few campaign dollars is just stupid.

But at least one Florida congressman has leapt into the abyss, declaring that Americans are going to have to give up some of their liberty in the name of protecting children.

Weak-kneed Republicans are deluding themselves if they think that voting for gun control will protect children, or their own political careers. The reality is that coming out in support of gun control is almost certain to cost them their seats.

They will not be rewarded by their base for caving on the right to arms, nor will they be rewarded by the anti-rights crowd, which has a much broader agenda. While there are Republican voters who support gun control, few of them would vote for a Democrat over a Republican on that single issue. Likewise, Democrats and left-leaning independents are not going to abandon their other causes just because a Republican politician went along with their assault on gun rights.

This is just a political bludgeon being used to convince Republican politicians to cut their own political throats. There is no upside to a Republican supporting gun control, just as there is no benefit to society for enacting these laws.

Rather than fall into this political trap, Republican politicians need to be educated about the reality of the situation. Democrats don't have any answers. We've tried their way and it has failed every time.

Connecticut had one of the nation's strictest bans on “assault weapons” in place for over a decade before the attack on Sandy Hook Elementary.
Most mass-murderers passed “background checks” to obtain their weapons, most because they had no disqualifying record, and a couple because the system is faulty, and those that did not, generally stole them, not infrequently after killing the legal owner.

Mass-murderers almost always plan their attacks for months or years, picking their targets, analyzing potential obstacles, acquiring weapons, and exploring alternative means of wreaking destruction.

Republicans need to put this issue back into the laps of the Democrats. Rather than try to avoid a debate on gun control and mass-murder, Republicans should embrace that debate, and force the Democrats to justify their calls for restricting the rights of innocent Americans.

Democrats can't do it, because gun control does not work – especially when it comes to rampage murderers.

We've tried it their way, and it failed. Now let's try it our way. Lets stop disarming qualified teachers, coaches, and administrators willing to undergo extensive training and accept the responsibility of being prepared to stop an armed aggressor.

Jeff Knox

Call your representatives in Washington at 202-224-3121, to let them know you want them to stand fast against ill-conceived, ineffective, gun control laws. Post this article on their Facebook pages and on your Facebook page. Tweet it, share it, and repost it until these politicians understand that restricting our rights, based on nothing more than emotion, is not a solution, and will not be tolerated.

About Jeff Knox:

Jeff Knox is a second-generation political activist and director of The Firearms Coalition. His father Neal Knox led many of the early gun rights battles for your right to keep and bear arms. Read Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War.

The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition has offices in Buckeye, Arizona and Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org.

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@WildBill: Well, you certainly weren’t going to hear that from @JVC or @JAKE or any of the other trolls because, as I pointed out, they really don’t care how many men, women & children are killed. They only feign outrage when a firearm is used. And anyone who doubts that has only to check out their responses, online. I defy you to find one time they’ve decried the deaths of people unless there have been firearms used, then and only then are they shedding tears. By the way, Bill, did you guess correctly and win the 500 points toward your… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Vann, Yes, I did guess correctly, but I had an advantage. I know from their unsuccessful raids here that they are “first rung on the ladder”, just graduated Socialism Indoctrination 101, funugy propagandists. I fear that if the liberal/progressive/socialists get control, there will be an indoctrination course (you only get released from camp when you pass the course and the commissar allows it) in our futures.

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1 year ago

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Macofjack

@JVC – So again you deal in half truths. You just happened to leave out that 98% of the ‘mass shooting’ were in GUN FREE zones! I’ll bet you would leave out the fact that if you take out liberal controlled cities (Chicago, Baltimore, etc) the US falls from third in the world to third from the bottom in shootings!
It really must suck when people do fact check you BS and so you to be the fool you are!

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1 year ago

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Macofjack

@JVC – you are half right about Australia. There are more guns than there were 16 years ago AFTER the gun grab. People that could (and were lucky enough have the money and time) to keep a gun are buying more and more. This is NOT the general public and the number ARE NOT up to pre-grap numbers!
As a liberal troll would do you deal in half truths and shades of gray to push the WRONG agenda!
Poor little snowflake!!!

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Mac, The liberal/socialist/marxists just plain old lie Then pat themselves on the back for being smarter then anyone else. Really all they did was use a technique as old as man, himself.

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1 year ago

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Macofjack

@JVC – The truth really hurts you doesn’t it?

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1 year ago

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JVC

As for being a troll paid by some shady group. I’m not . I’m paid by Remington/Ruger/Brownells to stir up trouble so people will interact and then click on the advertisements for their products and buy more of the products to help their business survive. Oh wait. That’s wild Bill. Probably not even paid to do it. Happy to be a tool of big business time and time again, for free.

Anyway, I’ll leave you four guys to keep talking to one another – you can win this!

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1 year ago

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JVC

Why be so selective in your stats Joe? Looking to twist the truth? Or even just get your facts right. Copying and pasting what you read elsewhere on Ammoland doesn’t count. “59 of the world’s 66 worst mass shootings occurred OUTSIDE the US. (WRONG! The USA HAS 17 OF THE TOP 5O DEADLIEST MASS SHOOTINGS. That is, over 33% of the worst mass shootings happened in USA. Many of them recently. We are by far and away NUMBER ONE IN total MASS SHOOTINGS (11th per capita) NUMBER ONE IN SCHOOL SHOOTINGS NUMBER ONE IN FREQUENCY OF MASS SHOOTINGS. And those… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Vanns40

So what? And did you also point out that they were all in gun free zones? Oops, conveniently omitted that.
Gun Free Zones = Murder Zones

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Vanns, I not with great laughter that the junior varsity congregatio de propaganda claims to be paid. Maybe, but they wouldn’t pay him much!

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1 year ago

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JVC

Posters – I see you cant actually engage on the topic beyond personal attacks. or is that all you can do – state how much more about firearms and ‘civil rights’ you know than me, but constantly avoid the issue at hand? Engage on the topic, if you dare – why do we have these mass shootings, in schools and otherwise, over and over again with such frequency? If it’s not availability of rapid fire, high capacity weapons to all and sundry, what is it? What is it that makes this happen over and over again only in our country… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Vanns40

Oh I’ll be happy to engage since I’ve now had my second cup of coffee, not that it takes that many. You appear to be so very concerned about mass shootings. But I haven’t seen your comments, online or anywhere else, about the carnage when vehicles are used to murder. Let me run down the list for you and then I’ll comment further: 1981 Iraqi embassy bombing, Beirut, Lebanon (not ramming pedestrians: ramming a specific building then exploding) 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, Lebanon (building ramming + exploding) 2001 Azor attack, Israel (ramming people, mostly soldiers) 2001 Jammu and Kashmir legislative… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Vanns, Holy smoke! I had no idea that there were so many people deciding to commit murder using cars and trucks. This has got to have a bad impact on liberal/progressive/socialist propaganda.

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@JVC, You ask, “If it’s not availability of rapid fire, high capacity weapons to all and sundry, what is it?” The answer is people. People decide to kill people. From Cain slaying Able (before the firearm was ever thought of) to hydrogen weapons (because you can not kill enough fast enough with a mere gun). Almost any inanimate object can be used to kill people, food denial, microbes, viruses, household chemical fumes, cars, farming supplies, water… It takes a person to decide to kill.

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1 year ago

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oldvet

@JVC…If it isn’t numbers , why is the question shooters ask “did I break the record”? If it isn’t numbers what was it that ended WWII ? Hiroshima-90,000-140,000 and that wasn’t enough we had to hit Nagasaki for another 60,000-80,000 before the Japanese would surrender .

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1 year ago

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John Dunlap

Psst…. JVC!. Browning BAR MK3 DBM: http://www.browning.com/products/firearms/rifles/bar/current-production/bar-mk3-stalker-detachable-magazine.html A BAR “assault weapon” (shudder)! And here are some 10 rnd. mags for the older MK2 Short Tracs: https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/browning-bar-shorttrac-magazine-308-win-10-rounds-steel-blued-023614486589.do?sortby=ourPicksAscend&refType=&from=fn&ecList=7&ecCategory=119343 10’s are just as good as 30’s, especially when only the bad guy has a gun. He just has to carry more and swap them out a little more often. “JVC” is likely not a person, but an account used by an office full of Clinton/Obama-bots, who’s job is to keep us arguing with them, so that we don’t move from venting here to taking coordinated action. That’s exactly what we need to do;… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Vanns40

I told you guys. A JVC is a Jake by any other name!

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1 year ago

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Macofjack

@JVC – I’ve said it before (maybe even to you) but your posts make it time for it again – Keep your mouth shut and the world may think you a fool, open it and remove all doubt! In you case all doubt removed many times over!

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

OK, JVC I’ll go through this nightmare, one item at a time. “Can’t fit a 30 round clip to a BAR…” True, since there is no such thing as a 30-round “clip.” (The last true military “clip,” for the M-1, was only 8 rounds.) “… a rifle capable of tossing insane amounts of lead.” It takes 120 of the .223 bullets [4 magazines of 30-rounds each] to equal a pound of lead… which is only 2.5 cubic inches of mass. A shoebox holds more than 60 magazines-worth of lead. If you consider a shoebox-full of any inanimate object to be… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@JoeUSooner, I am so glad that you stepped up to do that.

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

Thanks, Bill… Sorry, but every so often the Liberals’ sheer, abject stupidity gets way too deep-and-wide to ignore, and I just have to let off some steam. LOL

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1 year ago

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James Higginbotham

good post Joe.
and RIGHT ON.

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1 year ago

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JVC

Hi Joe There are more guns in Australia now than pre 1996. Look it up. Interesting that they haven’t had a mass shootings since 1996. Actually the murder rate is lower. Especially gun homicide. I don’t know if there is a direct correlation between the law changes and the lowered rate of gate violence, but it seems to suggest they got something right. Perhaps addressing mental health and welfare issues came into it too. I guess the point is they took the problem seriously and tried everything to address it. They didn’t put more guns in their schools though as… Read more »

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

JVC, you are omitting a few things. The disarming of Australia was not successful. Following Australia’s mandatory 1996 gun “buy-back” fiasco, their number of annual gun-related deaths did [technically] decrease by a very slight (“statistically irrelevant”) amount – although it remains triple the US per capita murder rate. But the “unintended consequence” of Australia’s draconian anti-gun legislation is that ALL their other violent crimes (armed robbery, arson, armed assault, home invasion, rape, etc) went up by a factor of four (4)! In exchange for a miniscule improvement in one classification of crime [admittedly, not quite as many Australians have since… Read more »

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1 year ago

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oldvet

Comment…To all living in Kansas : Senator Pat Roberts has just asked to be put out to pasture ! He would put an age limit to buy an AR-15 at 25, and strengthen background checks !

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@OV, I have been pressuring my senators (and other politicians) all day. Many years ago Congress decided that 18 was the age of majority. At 18, the full panorama of Constitutional Civil Right attach. I don’t think that Congress is authorized to take back any of those Constitutional Civil Rights. How do we keep sending these illiterates to Congress?

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1 year ago

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oldvet

@WB …Pretty sure Pat Roberts is even older than me. He sounds like he has out lived his usefulness.
Forget who ran against him at his last reelection , but seem to remember they made a respectable showing. I think it is time . I wouldn’t be surprised if name recognition has a lot to do with reelection in many cases. Pretty sure that’s what reelected the judges that needed to be replaced here in our last election, people don’t know any one so they vote for the incumbent.

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

Bill, I agree with you that Congress does NOT have legal authority to “take” civil rights away – from anyone – on a piece-meal or individual basis, but Congress does indeed have the authority, capability, and responsibility to effectively and deliberately set a standard society-wide “age of majority.” They cannot be arbitrarily selective, certainly not on differing subjects, but they can define that age to be whatever society will accept (16, 18, 21, 24, 25, etc).

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Joe, I think that Congress already did set a national age of majority when the full compliment of Civil Rights attach. Having done that, to make the age higher would be taking Civil rights away from some.

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

Bill… Congress has, indeed, already initially specified a national “age of majority.” And yes, I agree that any change in that “age” will certainly have practical consequences. Although the effects would be for a temporary amount of time (in the sense that rights would at some point be granted, anyway) adjusting the age upward would remove rights from some citizens, just as adjusting the age downward would grant rights to other citizens. Since such a determination is within Congress’ legal purview, future changes are possible (and would absolutely be subject to societal acceptance). In the real world, I do not… Read more »

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1 year ago

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JVC

So – open question:

We have a problem with mass shootings. Why?
What is the root cause here? What can we do about that?

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1 year ago

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oldvet

The Root cause= Gun Free Open Shooting Zones and being Politically Correct by eliminating Mental Health centers we use to call Insane Asylums.

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1 year ago

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JVC

Ahhh…sure. Nailed it.

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1 year ago

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Webfoot Logger

The mass shooters, egged on by the left and the media, are doing it for fame.

They are nobodies, and the message they get from the endless glorification in the media – and by certain politicians dancing in the blood – is that this is how you get glory. Shoot enough people and you can get everybody up to the president of the United States talking about you!

That gives an obvious counter: deny the fame . . . Make him an unperson for his crimes.

He has no name.

He has no face.

He has no grievance.

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1 year ago

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Macofjack

Drew Hollinger – The military does NOT use AR-16 they use M16/M4’s! As with ‘assault weapon’ terms matter!

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1 year ago

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Drew Hollinger

AR 15’s that you can buy in a gun store are not the AR 15’s the Military uses. Theres are full auto of 3 shot bursts, which can fire a fraction of a second slower than fully automatic. The public ones a semi auto one shot at a time, like a pistol. Banning of any gun is not the answer. Keeping guns away from children is one part, and enforcing the existing gun laws. In every school shooting there have been big warning signs from the shooters, and no one did shit about it. Israel allows anyone to carry guns.… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Hugo

They are not “falling into a trap”. Left and right are the same in the end, endless wars, more taxes, suckier economy, lies after lies. They are gangsters who want more and more control over their ever expanding teritory. They are all pos globalists. This gun control is U.N. backed to dissarm the American population. They still fear us at this point. Tuink about it, eye witneses said there were multiple shooters while the “shooter” had no weapons. It was a set up. They killed innocent kids and blamed another mind control victom just to take our guns. Thats how… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Dave Brown

Hugo, I only skimmed your short response as I am busy putting out my own messages, and trying to Free One Mind At A Time. I don’t do the whole left and right thing, yet I have voted for 47 years, just not by A party line, help us all. Now some of your stuff may be a little over the top, but at least you ain’t talking the same crap our so called people in DC talk. Now what I would like to see is All Of Us take a good look at these Kids and what they are… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Drew Hollinger

Vote out the parties and let them vote the way they feel.

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1 year ago

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Bill

The vague call for “government that works” hasn’t gotten us very far, has it? That is like calling for “gun control that works.” It is not okay just to get more government and more gun control in a misguided hope that “something” might work, and I really hope that was not what you intended to say. Glad to see that you are not ready to just bend over to government oppression, in any case. Now, if anyone has noticed, when a person starts shooting or committing other serious crimes, what is the instinctive, first thing that people do? They call… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Dave Brown, What we are doing is blaming inanimate objects, and that is not working. There a lot of people and groups of people who failed in their duties, and that allows these incidents. Pharmaceutical companies that only care about profit; over prescribing medical doctors; over using patients; federal and local law enforcement that do not do their job or even coordinate; teachers and students that keep quiet; parents that do not parent. This is a failure of people not inanimate objects. whitehouse.gov

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1 year ago

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Dan Schwager

Just Vote more Pro Gun Republicans IN and vote out the wimps.

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@DS, Hold your nose; register Repub; vote against the repub party favorite in the primary. The only cost is a little time and the effort of making the family do the same.

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1 year ago

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Infidel762X51

Did you even read what you wrote or did you just copy and paste from Evertown? Fist you want to take away ARs then you claim no one wants to take away guns.

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1 year ago

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Sabre22

Well stated cut your own political throats by supporting gun control and they will be a PERMANENT MINORITY POLITICAL AFTERTHOUGHT

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1 year ago

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Macofjack

Yes we need to do something, but not just cave in and give up everything. We can feel sorry for the kids at the FL school, but we do NOT have to give up the farm to have some changes that will WORK!

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Mac, I have sent six “Don’t fall for the DNC gun control ploy” emails to the press. at whitehouse.gov/contact. That is something that we can do. I have also sent emails to both senators and congressman, three ea.

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1 year ago

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Press Control: Pass a “copy cat crime prevention act”

It’s really hard to see these tradgefies, especially young kids. I think we are at a crossroads in our country where we will eventually loose most of our freedoms. The problem is the mentally ill. I recently read that nearly every school shooter was either taking or had recently taken psychiatric medication. Obviously, there is a connection. Until we can figure out how weed out the crazies, there are some things we could do to lessen the risk. First, deputize (first train to police academy standards) teachers and principles who wish to become undercover school police. They should pass normal… Read more »

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1 year ago

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YOOPER BOB

KUDO’S JOHN DUNLAP… WELL STATED PERIOD!!!!!

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1 year ago

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rappini

If we give in on anything relative to 2A the Demorats will never be satisfied there main objective is to repeal 2A, period.

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1 year ago

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Paul Bryant

Schools need to get their priorities in order. Metal detectors , more security, God & American Values back in school. And stop spending so much on sports where the players take a knee. It was not like this in my time, because we cared & respected one another. We DID NOT have video games that we set in front of all evening killing & stilling, foul mouth talk. We got out side and did things. And my parents new what we where doing and who we where doing it with. FOLKS START RAISING YOUR CHILDREN NOW. GOD I HOPE IT’S… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Doc Duracoat

I emailed Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio And Lois Frankel
I’ve contacted both my senators and my representative before about the hearing protection act and national concealed carry reciprocity
All I can do is hope that thousands of fellow Floridians inundate them with calls for armed guards in our schools and no more gun laws

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1 year ago

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JVC

The right to own an AR-15 shouldn’t outweigh the right for kids to feel safe at school. No one wants to take all your guns away, Jeff, just make it less easy for mass shootings to occur. Sure, it’s not only the ready availability of weapons like AR-15s to all and sundry that is the problem – America also has clear problems with a culture of violence, a fear of one another exacerbated by high gun ownership and, frankly a diminished appreciation of what life is about. The persistent stonewall attitude of gun advocates and fetishisation of military weapons has… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Clark Kent

Coming from you; the expert in ridiculous. If ignorance was painful, you would be in the ER. Next flight to Canada departs in 10 minutes. You won’t be missed. Buh-bye!

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1 year ago

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Cam

Are you slow or just developmentally challenged. The 2nd has zero to do with hunting. It was written by a group of men that had just overthrown a tyrannical government and they knew that people in America would have to do it again. Your feeling are irrelevant and don’t matter. Seriously do you remember what happened to millions of Jews. Their guns were first registered and then take. They were then sent to gas chamber and murdered. Do you realy think people have changed and that’s not possible of happening. What has changed? We have internet and cell phones but… Read more »

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1 year ago

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JVC

I didn’t mention the 2nd. I understand it well. I also understand I one who cites the second is actually standing up for tyrannical government. In fact you vote for it time and time again. Or don’t vote at all. What’s the real problem then, Cam? Why do we have so many mass shootings? Clearly the guns available with high capacity magazines make it a lot easier to do . So if you want to keep them what do you suggest we do to address the problems we have with violence? And I mean addressing the causes, not the symptoms.… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Shawn Shahan

JVC go troll somewhere else. Your stupidity amuses me. Have you read the 2nd Admendment? Sorry, stupid question, obviously you have not. It was not written to protect the right to hunt or for sport shooting, it was written to protect Americans from a tyrannical government. As Americans we have the right to the same weapons that the military has (although we do not have that right). I love it how you leftist morons always want to blame the evil AR-15 for everything and never mention the mental illness problem plaguing our country. I own 4 AR-15’s and none of… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Terry

JVC;
“What is it that makes an AR-15 so important to own? its certainly got nothing to do with hunting and sport shooting. It’s made for killing people in a combat situation. In a home defence situation, it’s a poor choice.”

The 2nd amendment to the constitution has nothing to do with ‘hunting and sport shooting’.

“THe cult of the individual has got out of hand in America.”

This is unbelievable. You need a change of scenery – I suggest Russia!

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1 year ago

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Bruce

The AR15, as some claim, is more for killing, than hunting. It will do both very well with a trained shooter. It was designed by ArmaLite, and they had a series of rifles that started with an AR-1, ArmaLite Rifle-1. The ArmaLite Rifle 15, was first designed as a civilian rifle, AR-15. I has never had the designation as a Assault Rifle. That is just something that media has called it. It was adopted by the Military, after extensive modifications to meet military needs, such as selective fire, to use in semi automatic, 3-5 round burst, or full automatic. This… Read more »

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1 year ago

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James

Terry is correct. the 2nd Amendment does not speak to hunting and sport shooting. Moreover, “JVC”, I suggest, if you are so passionate about your view on the subject, that you research the topic before proposing your ideas to be correct. The “AR” platform is HUGELY popular in hunting and sport shooting. There are entire shooting categories devoted to this style of firearm. There are also many variations and calibers dedicated to hunting. What, in your experience, makes it a poor choice for home defense? It is lightweight, easy to operate, reliable, and effective. I’m not sure how you would… Read more »

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1 year ago

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JVC

James, thanks for engaging properly on the topic. A few things – a BAR is far from an AR. You know this. Can’t fit a 30 round clip to a BAR… As for the 2nd amendment, this is the true sticking point that had all sorts of BS attached to it. It sounds from other posts that many understand the 2nd to be about the protection of owning a military rifle to protec lt you from tyrannical government. Ok, then how come all he AR owners aren’t out there protecting their families from government and big business tyranny? They aren’t.… Read more »

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1 year ago

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John Dunlap

First, the AR-15 in appropriate configurations makes an excellent home defense option, as these examples demonstrate: https://mic.com/articles/64663/5-people-who-used-an-ar-15-to-defend-themselves-and-it-probably-saved-their-lives#.QKOhQp0El Second, the hoplophobes’ agenda has ALWAYS been complete confiscation and civilian disarmament, achieved in discreet steps: If you believe otherwise, when the gun banners themselves have been announcing their intentions, you are engaging in willful ignorance. Is it really necessary to remind you that the Second Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with sporting purposes? It is nothing less than a guarantee that the people will have recourse to an effective remedy for out of control government. Gun control has nothing to do… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Mike

Thank you. My “feelings” exactly!

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1 year ago

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Barry

Well done! Provide intelligent thought WITH verifiable fact is the appropriate response to broad statements that do nothing to bring an intelligent discourse to the “table” for rational debate to seek a solution that ALL can live with.

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@JVC, You write, “The right to own an AR-15 shouldn’t outweigh the right for kids to feel safe…” You are quite wrong. A Constitutional Civil Right always out weighs a feeling. There is no civil right to feel safe. There is no civil right to feel happy. There is no civil right to feel smug.
School shootings are the failure of human beings, not the failure of inanimate objects. So lets be brave and stand up to the Civil Rights Destruction Movement.

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1 year ago

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Bill N.

@ Wild Bill, here’s a thought. Install closed circuit tv cameras at every entrance, install electronic locks at these doors. When the school classes start the doors automatically lock. Any one coming in late or what ever must ring a bell, a security person in the office would either recognize the individual or question them before opening that door. Also to satisfy fire regulations the doors would unlock with a fire alarm. Nowhere near perfect but better then what we have now. And it would be a one-time expense.

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1 year ago

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Larry

Yeah lock the kids up. Great society we’re building here.

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1 year ago

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Bill N.

@Larry, The object is simply to keep the bad guys out. You have locks on the doors at home, I presume, and for what purpose?

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1 year ago

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oldvet

@Bill N… maybe his mommy’s basement doesn’t have locks in the basement side of the doors and maybe mommy doesn’t feel he needs a gun for self defense because either she or the police will take care of him.

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1 year ago

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Bill N.

@Wild Bill, I have another suggestion. People like JVC feed on our comments and the more we respond the more belligerent he becomes. I ignore those people any more. They have a right to their opinion just like butt holes, everybody has one.

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1 year ago

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JVC

i think the belligerant personal attacks are coming from your end Bill N.

Aopears n o one is really wanting to engage in the issue.

Why do we have this problem in America of repeated mass shootings, time and time again?

No one seems able to identify why, let along e what to do about it.

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1 year ago

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Vanns40

Gun Free Zones = Murder Zones

You’d think even trolls would understand that but you’d be wrong.

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

Problematically, no useful discussion can occur when one side (conservatives) argues facts while the other side (liberals) resorts to emotions as a crutch. In order to reach an effective solution to the human-violence problem – it is not a “gun problem” – Democrats must first accept three facts. 1) Laws punish wrongdoing, Laws do not stop wrongdoers. (Reread that… very carefully.) Laws – ink on paper – alone will not stop criminals. 2) On the issue of firearms, there is only one salient point… the only thing that matters is Who is wielding that gun, and why. Nothing else (not… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Free Thinker

TROLL.
(Thanks for self-identifying)..

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1 year ago

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Charlie

Another LibTard heard from. Same old rhetoric, over & over! Why are you here? Your one sentence gives your socialist agenda away: “The cult of the individual has got out of hand in America”. You may not be an individual, but I am. You’re a member of a herd of sheep. No thought, no honor, no code……baaaaa..bazaars!

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1 year ago

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2WarAbnVet

“No one wants to take all your guns away”? Then why did Senators Dodd and Feinstein tell us hat they did?

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

JVC, What color is the sky in your world? Your abject ignorance is showing… The enumerated Constitutional “right” to own an AR-15 and the “ability” (NOT an enumerated “right”) of citizens to secure safety for kids at school are two entirely separate legal entities, and they cannot be weighed or compared. They are absolutely not an EITHER/OR proposition or a “zero sum” equation. AR15s are specifically designed and intended to be the civilian(!) – semiautomatic – version of military combat small arms. AR15s are not themselves “combat” arms… they are not used by ANY military in the entire world. The… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Hugo

Isreal figured it out. They arm all their teachers. Kids do not mess with the teachers gun. Why are isreals school children more important than ours? People dont have an issue with armed gaurds at banks and courthouses. Wtf? Why cant schools be protected aswell?

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1 year ago

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Hugo

Isreal figured it out. They arm all their teachers. Kids do not mess with the teachers gun. Why are isreals school children more important than ours? People dont have an issue with armed gaurds at banks and courthouses. Wtf? Why cant schools be protected aswell?

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1 year ago

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Bill

Once again, the mantra of, “Disarm all the good citizens because there are a few bad citizens.” No. It takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun. Get rid of “gun free zones,” where people gather like fish in a barrel, and instead allow people to defend themselves. No bad guy with a gun wants to be suddenly surrounded by a lot of people who can stop him. Stop being so naive, dude, that is where real shame lies. You have no idea what the Second Amendment is about, as you watch TV… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Vanns40

Guys, this is the perfect example of trolls that have started popping up lately. They’re ignorant, they’re biased and, with very few exceptions, they NEVER respond when challenged. Best to just call them out for what they are and not waste ablotbofbtime with them.

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1 year ago

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tomcat

JVC Junior Varsity and I could call the last letter but I won’t. Totally brainless is JVC’s M.O. To get back to the article, the republicans have been shooting themselves in the foot every since Trump was elected. Their public arguments and not standing together is the fuel the democrats need to steam roll them. They don’t seem to realize that. Pelosi as speaker, again? You got to be kidding. Let’s get the politicians out of our government and put someone with some common sense in there. Recent news, the deputy sheriff that was on duty stayed outside the building… Read more »

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1 year ago

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JVC

Ha. After reading that I certainly at least know I’m smarter than you. You’re attitude is the reason we have a problem with violence in this country.

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1 year ago

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tomcat

@junior varsity Yea I can see by reading what you write that you are smarter than most, except fence posts, boxes of rock and boxes of hammers.Ignorant dip$h!t go play with your little minded buds in the nursery.

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Tcat, Your hyperbole is misunderstood by certain junior varsity readers. He is probable new at writing, too.

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1 year ago

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JVC

Happy to discuss the issue. I can even talk the technical talk about firearms if you like. I’ve got a safe full. Non have 30 round clips though. I didn’t mention the 2nd amendment recently. I’d rather discuss why we’ve got so many mass shootings and what can be done about it. The real problem and solutions, not just ‘give the gym teacher a gun so he can shoot back’. I don’t think we should’ve able to do readily access high capacity rapid fire weapons. Got a legitimate reason, sure. But most of the reasons given are just so weak.… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Vanns40

You can talk “technical talk about firearms” and then you immediately say “….none have 30 round clips”? Yeah, think I’ll pass discussing the technical aspects with you, or any other aspects for that matter.

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Vanns, Yeah, this juliet victor charlie, does not know zip about guns or Civil Rights. I think that you have unmasked yet another paid liar, who keeps fishing for responses.

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1 year ago

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JVC

No BARs do, halfwit.

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

“… legitimate” reason?? Whose definition of “legitimate”? Yours? No way in hell !! To paraphrase a little green genius from many years ago… My own counsel will I keep! Firearms ownership is MY decision to make – mine alone – and anyone who attempts to morally, ethically, legally, or practically enforce THEIR versions of propriety, including firearms decisions, on me… will bleed. However, you are partially correct in that guns, by themselves, do not make me feel “safe.” My right and ability to responsibly defend myself and my family, including via private gun ownership (and rational training and practice), are… Read more »

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1 year ago

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JVC

Perhaps enlighten me about the small distinction you’d like to make recording slang. Magazine? Clip? Tell us about your technical brilliance on terminology. Yeah, let’s get to the real issues here…pfft.

Or you care to give me a history lesson onAR rifles….so relevant.
100 round I should have said. That’s what the las Vegas shooter used.

Useful for only one thing…

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1 year ago

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JVC

Plenty of countries just rely on their law enforcement and sense of community to feel safer. Indeed they are safer. Shame we can’t rely on that because we don’t trust anyone and are scared of each other. Why is that? . “Greatest country in the world though”

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1 year ago

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JoeUSooner

JVC This is becoming ridiculous. “… plenty of countries… are safer” than the US? Not in the Newtonian Universe (the real world!) where we sane people reside. The US is not even in the top 140 countries in the world in terms of per-capita violence – real, everyday danger faced by its citizens. You have never heard me make any claim to brilliance, so stop being an insulting ass. But I do claim a simple technical competence, which is indeed required in any rational, reasonable discussion of firearms… your lazy and idiotic claim (that interchangeably using “magazine” and “clip” is… Read more »

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1 year ago

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Roy D.

Face it JVC, when it comes to guns and gun related things you are a clown. Just go ahead and accept it. That might be the beginning of wisdom for you.

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@Roy D, I concur. The junior varsity clown thinks that he is an expert on the relationships between people in foreign countries and their police, too. The people from South America that I have talked to are terrified of their governments and ran to the US to claim Political Assylum.

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1 year ago

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JVC

South America – great example! We had nothing to do with that though did we Bill. Pffft. Roy D, etc the topic is mass school shootings and their frequency in America, and reasons this is so. if you care to engage on that, great. Otherwise just keep telling me how dumb i am. Hope it makes you feel better! it doesn’t have any impact on me, it just makes you look like a halfwit because you don’t have anything insightful to say on the topic, so have to attack the man. So back tio the topic: Anything to say on… Read more »

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1 year ago

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oldvet

@JVC…In case you don’t know the terminology James is using= BAR stands for Browning Automatic Rifle . Now lets see how you can twist that up.

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1 year ago

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JVC

BAR. Had one in.338. Nice gun. Didn’t have a 30-round mag though.

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1 year ago

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Wild Bill

@JVC, That little pontification about freedom and rights is 180 degrees wrong. And what makes an AR-15 so important to own is that you don’t have to take it to a gun smith to fix it.

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1 year ago

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JVC

Thanks Bill – I do like that comment about AR reliability! Nice one.

I know you’re a signed up believer in the American Dream and all the hokum that keeps the massses oppressed, but Americans are far from free.

However, Americans damnably-well ARE the closest demographic group (in all of human history) TO freedom – at least, a practical form of it. Can it be improved? Certainly! But you might reconsider your stance, and not allow the fact that it is imperfect to interfere with your acceptance of the fact that it is nonetheless the best currently available.